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For Immediate Release : Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Contact: Jon Gould, Deputy Director, Children’s Alliance, phone: (206) 324-0340 x19,
cell: (206) 683-2674, email:jon@childrensalliance.org

REPORT: President Obama signs CHIP bill, sending millions in new funding to WA State poised to restart Apple Health for Kids coverage up to 300% FPL

Today, President Barack Obama signed federal legislation that gives Washington’s Apple Health for Kids program a $15-million-per-year shot in the arm. Governor Chris Gregoire, who was present for the signing, has stated that the new funding available through the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) gives Washington state more than enough federal support to restart Apple Health for Kids coverage for families earning between 250 and 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which was suspended last December.


For Immediate Release : Thursday, Jan 15, 10:00 AM
Contact: Joshua Welter, 206-383-1857

REPORT: On Health Care, Small Business Opinion Challenges Conventional Wisdom
Survey shows Washington small business owners want choice of quality public coverage,
are willing to contribute to fix health care

Seattle, WA—Washington State small business owners want real health reform, are willing to contribute, and want the option of a public health insurance plan.  These are the findings of the report Taking the Pulse of Main Street: Small Businesses, Health Insurance, and Priorities for Reform released Thursday by The Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition.

The report documents small business owners' experiences with private health insurance and perspectives on different reform proposals.  Key survey results for Washington challenge conventional wisdom:

  • By a more than three to one margin, Washington small business owners preferred government playing a stronger role in guaranteeing access to quality, affordable health coverage when compared to letting the free market address health care without government intervention (63 percent to 18 percent, with 19 percent undecided).
  • Washington small business owners indicated a strong preference for more public oversight of the insurance industry compared with relaxing rules on insurers by a margin of more than 5 to 1 (69 percent to 13 percent, 18 percent undecided), and
  • Washington small business owners preferred a proposal with choice of a public coverage option over a proposal with expanded private market options by a margin of nearly two to one (54 percent to 30 percent, with 16 percent undecided).

At a time when health insurers are challenging President-elect Obama's goal to create a public plan as an alternative to private insurance, small business support could be critical to advancing health care reform in 2009.

Washington small business owners also indicated they are willing to pitch in to fix health care.  Of small employers surveyed in Washington, 51 percent indicated they would pay 4-7 percent or more of payroll to guarantee quality, affordable coverage for themselves and employees.  Half of that group were willing to contribute at least 8 percent of payroll to health care.

"As a small business owner, I'm willing to contribute.  I'm willing to pay my fair share for a real health care solution," said Sharon Shaw, a small business owner in Seattle's Pike Place Market.  "But small businesses can't go it alone.  Token gestures like tax credits that leave the current broken system essentially intact aren't a real solution.  A real solution is going to require a stronger role for government; that's why I support creation of a quality public health insurance option."

The report, based on a survey of 1,200 small businesses in twelve states including Washington, includes breakout pages with state-specific survey results and profiles of impacted business owners from across Washington.  A majority of Washington survey respondents were from Eastern Washington.

"This health care mess we're in is a major roadblock to economic recovery," said Shirley Giarde, owner of a retail bridal shop on Main Street in Walla Walla.  "The country is looking to small businesses to create jobs and help revitalize our economy.  We need a real health care fix to fulfill that promise."

The Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition is committed to ensuring that as the public debate over health reform ramps up in 2009, federal and state lawmakers know that small businesses in Washington want real health reform, are willing to contribute to the solution, and are looking to government to play a proactive role with creation of a quality public insurance option.

Taking the Pulse of Main Street: Small Businesses, Health Insurance and Priorities for Reform is available online for download at www.mainstreetalliance.org .

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Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition is a state-wide group of more than 1,000 small-business owners and self-employed people who are speaking out for affordable, quality health care for everyone.  www.smallbusiness4health.org

Report on Governor's 2009 Budget Proposal
by Robby Stern
January 2, 2009

The budget maintained dental, vision & hearing for Medicaid adults and kids (up to 250% of poverty). The budget failed to carry out the law passed last session covering kids from 250% - 300% of poverty.

Mental health parity was retained for medicaid adults and kids. (I do not yet understand how mental health parity was maintained with the cuts mentioned above to the Regional Support Networks for acute mental health services. Perhaps it is anticipated that this population will receive acute mental health services from other sources?)

There was about a $40 million increase in grants for uninsured care at community health centers.  Sadly, this also acknowledges that this budget will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of uninsured people in WA.

State portion of funding to Public Health was maintained. However, local funding has diminished enormously so that our Public Health infrastructure is in big trouble.  
      

The Bad News:

  1. 42% cut in funding to the BHP. The Director of the Health Care Authority was charged by the Governor to look at benefit design, cost sharing, & administrative efficiencies before cutting enrollment. Our Coalition partners at the Community Health Clinics estimate this will lead to up to a 6% increase in the number of uninsured in WA “vitually overnight”.

  2. The GA-U (unemployable) medical and grants program is eliminated. GA-UX, who are the people on SSI and the most vulnerable (i.e. aged, blind, disabled) were maintained.

  3. There is a 4% cut in both in-patient and out-patient hospital reimbursement. This cut will not apply to psychiatric hospitals.

  4. Healthy Options premiums were reduced by 1% in the first year and there was an assumption of no growth in the second year. This will impact managed care programs (Molina, Group Health, & Community Health Network) that provide care for Medicaid children and maybe (I am not sure of this) some Medicaid adults.

  5. Funding for the Health Insurance Partnership to assist small business employees and their employers was rescinded.

  6. Funding for the 6333 Working Group was eliminated.

  7. Funding for foster kids leaving foster care was eliminated.

  8. There was a 10% or $1 million cut in state-only funding for family planning services for low income Washingtonians

  9. Significant cuts to acute mental health services that children and individuals rely on through the Regional Support Networks, which are community mental health services managed care system. The Governor’s budget reduced non-Medicaid funding by $11.2 million. Medicaid state funding was also reduced by $11.2 million. The latter also reduced the federal match with the entire cut amounting to approximately $22 million (state & federal) for Medicaid acute mental health services.

  10. There was a $20 million cut to the Adult Health Program serving the elderly and adults with developmental disabilities.

  11. The Budget eliminated funding for vaccines for non-medicaid kids.
In all, $990 million was cut out of the health care budget or about 12% of health care spending.  It would have been worse but for the fact that the Governor assumed an additional $1 billion from the feds. in increased Medicaid match, increased SCHIP (Children’s Health Improvement Program) funding and increased TANF funding. The budget also achieved savings by eliminating raises that had been negotiated for state employees in the recently completed collective bargaining process.

The future we all want for WA is not in this budget. People in our state want more people to have secure, quality, affordable health care, not less.

The cuts in the budget will only make matters worse. These cuts will lead, inevitably, to more uncompensated care and therefore more cost shifting to those who are lucky enough to have coverage; residents of our state getting sicker because they cannot access primary and preventative care; ERs being inundated with the uninsured and under insured also impacting the quality of emergency medicine that can be delivered; and an inevitable escalation of health care costs.The Healthy WA Coalition will work with others in our communities and the policy makers to look for creative solutions for our state that protect essential health care services such as the BHP, Medicaid, Children’s Health, and Public Health. We appreciate the gravity of the state’s budget deficit, but the safety net is even more important in these very difficult economic times.

We will continue talking with our federal representatives about the economic stimulus and how the crisis in health care must be solved in order to resolve our larger economic crisis. The Healthy Washington Coalition is committed to working with our state and federal officials to build a path for our economic future that includes secure, quality, affordable health care for everyone.  

 

 

 

 

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